JP3965389B2 - Method for performing processing related to a virtual media tray - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a document processing system, and more particularly to a print media tray.

  In many business environments, policies and procedures related to documents generated within the company have been established. Such policies include the definition of standard text or watermarks to be printed on the document, a policy that requires a copy of the printed document to be stored in the document management system, or emailing a copy of the document to an administrator or other individual. Or a policy that requires you to fax.

  Network printers provide a centralized printing device that can be used by users of any number of computer systems connected to the network. Many printers also have multiple print media trays, which allow the user to print documents on different media (eg, legal or letter size paper, color paper, transparency, etc.). It is also possible to configure the network printer to automatically implement document policies and procedures that are applied to documents sent to the printer.

  With respect to the above functions, it is required that the printing apparatus execute processing related to a document not related to printing. For example, a user desires to realize that a document is simply sent to the document management system by "printing" the document on a specific virtual media tray, so that the printer copies the document to the document management system. There is.

  The virtual medium tray will be described. The virtual media tray defines multiple or alternative output destinations for documents sent to the printing device. The same numbers are used throughout the drawings to reference like elements and elements.

First, transmission of a document to a virtual media tray associated with the printing apparatus will be described below. The following method will be described with respect to a network printer, but the described method can be implemented on any printing device that supports bi-directional network communication, such as a copier, fax machine or other multifunction device. Is recognized.

  Many network printers have multiple physical paper feed trays that can hold any size and any type of print media. When a user sends a document to be printed to the printer, the user (or an application that sends the document) designates a physical paper feed tray from which the printer pulls out the paper on which the document is printed.

  Some printers can be configured so that each paper feed tray is associated with other paper characteristics such as paper size and weight or color. In such an embodiment, the user (or application) can specify the size (or other characteristics) of the paper used when printing a document without specifying a specific physical paper tray. Then, the printer determines an appropriate physical paper feed tray based on the instructed paper characteristics.

  Such a network printer can be configured to manage a virtual media tray that defines a combination of physical feed trays and other processes. The other processes can include the following processes. That is, a process that causes a document to be sent to one or more recipients, for example by fax or email, and a process that causes a copy of the document to be stored at a particular network location (eg, based on an IP address) A process in which specific header, footer or watermark data is printed as part of a document. In some examples, these processes cause the printer to use information (eg header, footer, watermark, IP address, email address, fax number, web page, public encryption key) when processing documents from the network. A billing billing code, etc.), which can be encrypted, stored and transmitted. Furthermore, a condition can be associated with the process so that a particular process is executed only when a specified condition is met.

  For example, the Legal Department may have a network-based document management system that records copies of all documents sent to customers. Rather than relying on employees to remember to copy documents to a document management system, for each document sent to the virtual tray, by defining a virtual media tray for the network printer In addition to printing a document on a print medium that is stored in a physical print tray that is also associated with a virtual media tray, the printer can automatically send a copy of the document to the document management system.

  In another example, company policies may prohibit employees from printing photos on a network printer. In order to support such a policy, if the print coverage of the document exceeds 5%, which is the area coverage of the page filled with “E” (graphics typically takes 60-90% of the page) The virtual media tray can be defined to allow the printer to email a copy of the document to a particular individual. In this example, the print area ratio of the document related to the print request is determined based on the conditions related to the processing. If the print area ratio exceeds 5%, the process retrieves the email address of the direct administrator of the user requesting the document to be printed from the network, and emails a copy of the document to that email address. Defined to send.

  In another example implementation, where the legal department is supported, the virtual tray uses the document's embedded identifier (eg, email address, employee number, national identification number, patent attorney number, etc.) Then, a public encryption key, a preferred document format, and a preferred communication method related to the document recipient (for example, an external consultant or a customer) are searched. In one embodiment, a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) server can be used to support such data searches. Given a document recipient preference profile (or list of document recipients), the virtual tray automatically converts the document (eg, from MS Word format to PDF version), automatically encrypts and receives The document can be automatically sent using the preferred email, instant message, fax or other communication means of the person. Thus, virtual trays can be used to reduce errors in routine document storage, transmission and security processes.

  A virtual tray can also be implemented to process metadata for documents. For example, when printing a color document, a plurality of color planes (CMYK) are used, each having an individual area ratio of consumables (ink or toner). The area ratio of C, M, Y, and K in the document, the number of pages of the document, whether the document is printed on one side or both sides, etc. are examples of metadata. In this way, virtual trays can enable improvements in marketing research panel research, for example by automating the reporting of toner usage metadata. If such metadata reporting is automated and simplified, more people may be willing to participate in the panel survey. The virtual tray-based consumable measurement panel also improves the quality of the information reported by eliminating the possibility of human error.

Exemplary Virtual Media Tray Environment FIG. 1 illustrates components of an exemplary network environment 100 in which virtual media trays can be implemented. A printing device 102 is connected to one or more computing systems 104 via a data communication network 106.

  Computing system 104 may be any type of computing system capable of sending data to and / or receiving data from printing device 102 such as, but not limited to, network desktop computing systems, network fax devices and email servers. Can be. The data communication network 106 can be any type of network, such as a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), using any type of network topology and any network communication protocol. Although only a few devices are shown communicatively coupled via network 106, any number of devices may be connected to a normal network, either directly or indirectly through another network system. Can do. The Internet is an example of a plurality of connected network systems, each having a plurality of devices. Printing device 102 and computing system 104 may have modems and / or network cards that facilitate network communication and data transfer via data communication network 106. Alternatively, the printing device 102 and the computing system 104 can be directly connected via a parallel, serial, USB, wireless, or other such connection.

  Printing device 102 includes one or more processors 108, a memory component 110, a physical print tray 112, a media routing assembly 114, a printing unit 116, and one or more communication interfaces 118. Further, although not shown, the system bus typically connects all components within the printing device 102.

  Printing device 102 also includes an application component 120 and a virtual tray manager 122 implemented as a permanent memory module stored in memory component 110 or implemented by other components of printing device 120. For example, the application component can be implemented as a component of the processor 108 or as a component of a printer controller. The application component 120 and the virtual tray manager 122 are programmed and tested like software and distributed with the printing apparatus 102. The application component 120 can be implemented to coordinate the operation of hardware within the printing device 102, which includes the programming configuration used to perform such operation. A virtual tray manager 122 is implemented to manage virtual media trays associated with the printer 102 that can send documents, whereby the printing device performs alternative and / or additional operations. Virtual tray manager 122 may be implemented as part of application component 120.

  The processor (s) 108 processes various instructions for controlling the operation of the printing device 102 and communicating with other electronic and computing devices.

  The memory component 110 stores various information and data such as configuration information, fonts, templates, print data, and menu structure information.

  The physical printing tray 112 holds physical printing media such as paper, plastic, fabric, mylar, and transparent original. Print media is supplied from the physical print tray 112 to the media routing assembly 114, which delivers the print media to the printing unit 116 where an image is printed on the print media.

  Communication interface 118 provides a connection between printing device 102 and one or more computing devices 104 or data communication network 106. Communication interface 118 may include, for example, one or more of a parallel, serial, USB, wireless, or network interface. When implemented as a network interface, the communication interface 118 enables devices coupled to a common data communication network to send print jobs, menu data, and other information to the printing device 102 via the network 106. To do. Similarly, when implemented as a parallel, serial, or USB interface, the communication interface 118 provides a direct data communication path between the printing device 102 and other electronic or computing devices such as a fax device or email server. .

  Printing device 102 may also include a user interface and menu browser 124 and a display panel 126. A user interface and menu browser 124 allows a user of the printing device 102 to navigate the menu structure of the device. The user interface 124 may include indicators and / or a series of buttons, switches, or other selectable controls that are processed by the user of the printing device. Display panel 126 is a graphical display that provides information regarding the status of printing device 102 and the current options available to the user via the menu structure. Printing device 102 may be implemented such that virtual media trays can be managed via user interface 124.

Exemplary Virtual Media Tray Manager FIG. 2 shows the components of an exemplary virtual media tray manager 122. The virtual media tray manager stores data defining one or more virtual media trays 202. For example, the virtual media tray 202 (1) includes a physical printing tray (indicated by physical printing tray ID 204), conditional processing (indicated by processing definition 206 (1) and processing condition 208), and two unconditional processing (processing). Definition 206 (2) and process definition 206 (3)). The virtual media tray 202 can be defined as any combination of physical printing trays, conditional processing / unconditional processing. In one embodiment, the process is defined using a scripting language such as JAVA, Microsoft Active Server Pages (ASP), PHP or PERL running on the hardcopy device's embedded web server. In an alternative embodiment, the embedded web server of the hardcopy device can call an external web server to perform the process.

  A user interface that can be accessed by a computing system connected to the printing device via a user interface and screen display associated with the printing device, such as a user interface / menu browser 124, or via the network 106. The printing device can be implemented such that it can be defined and managed (eg, added, changed, deleted) via

Method for Printing to a Virtual Print Tray FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary method 300 for processing a document that is sent to a virtual media tray. The order in which the methods are described is not intended to be construed as limiting. Moreover, the method can be implemented in any suitable hardware, software, firmware, or combination thereof. In one embodiment, the method can be performed by the system shown in FIGS.

  At block 302, the network printer 102 receives a document to be printed. Along with data representing the document to be printed, the printer receives print parameters including an indication of the print tray on which the document is printed. For example, the designated print tray can be a physical tray that holds standard letter size paper. Alternatively, the designated print tray can be a virtual media tray.

  In block 304, the printer determines whether the designated print tray is a virtual media tray. The printer determines the designated tray by examining print parameters sent with the document print request. If the designated print tray is not a virtual tray (“No” branch from block 304), at block 310, the printer prints the received document on a print medium physically present in the designated physical print tray.

  If it is determined that the designated print tray is a virtual media tray (“Yes” branch from block 304), at block 306, the printing device performs processing associated with the designated virtual media tray. As described above, virtual media trays can be defined to represent physical print trays, network locations, off-network locations or other processes, or any number of combinations of print parameters, which are conditional be able to.

  A virtual media tray can be defined as a combination of multiple physical print media trays. By sending the document to the virtual tray, the document is printed a plurality of times, that is, once for the print medium from each designated physical tray. Using this embodiment, multipart forms can be automatically printed, especially when each physical tray is loaded with a different color print medium.

  A virtual media tray can also be defined to include one or more network locations. For example, a virtual media tray can be defined as a combination of a physical print media tray that holds standard legal size paper and a network location (such as an IP address) associated with a document management system. By sending a document to such a virtual media tray, an electronic copy of the document is stored in the document management system and a hard copy of the document is printed on legal size paper.

  Similarly, a virtual media tray can be defined to include one or more locations outside the network. For example, a virtual media tray can be defined by an associated fax number or email address. When a document is sent to the virtual media tray, a copy of the document is not only printed, but faxed to a fax number associated with the virtual media tray or emailed to an email address. In one embodiment, the printing device may include a modem and fax application that can send a fax, and an email application that can email a copy of the document. In an alternative embodiment, the printing device is configured to send a copy of the document to another network location that acts as a fax machine or email server.

  A virtual media tray can also be defined to specify other parameters or processes, such as printing parameters, conditional parameters, or combinations thereof. For example, a virtual media tray can be defined such that a watermark is printed on each page of each document sent to the virtual media tray. The watermark can be stored in a memory associated with the printing device, such as memory 110, or it can be stored in a network accessible location that is retrieved by the printer. In another embodiment, a specific footer or header can be printed on each page rather than a watermark. Such an implementation provides a mechanism that centralizes control of, for example, company-specific or department-specific text printed on a document.

  In alternative implementations, conditional parameters can be associated with virtual print media. As a result, for example, when the ink area ratio exceeds 5%, the printer transmits a copy of the document to the user's supervisor by e-mail. This type of condition can be used, for example, to help enforce company policies that prohibit employees from printing images on network printers. In this embodiment, when the printer receives a request to print a document that satisfies the conditions associated with the virtual media tray, the printer identifies information identifying the user who submitted the document print request, and in this embodiment, the electronic information associated with the user's boss. Requests the network for information identifying the mail address.

  At block 308, after evaluating any conditions associated with the specified virtual media tray and performing any processing, the printing device determines whether a physical media tray is also associated with the specified virtual media tray. If it is determined that there is a physical print tray associated with the specified virtual media tray (“Yes” branch from block 308), in block 310, the printing device stores the print medium stored in the specified physical print tray Print the document. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is no physical print tray associated with the specified virtual media tray (“No” branch from block 308), the method ends at block 312.

  By defining a virtual media tray with no associated physical paper tray, the printing device can be configured to perform processing related to documents that may not be related to printing. For example, in such an embodiment, the user can send the document to the document management system, for example, simply by “printing” the document to a particular virtual media tray, whereby the printer copies the document to the document management system. .

Conclusion A virtual media tray can be defined to perform a number of functions related to printing a document. These features include automatically adding text by footer, header or watermark and / or automatically copying one or more copies of a document to another network or other location, such as a fax number or email address May be included.

  Although the invention has been described in terms of specific structural features and / or methodological steps, the invention as defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or steps described. Must be understood. Rather, the specific features and steps are disclosed as preferred forms of implementing the claimed invention.

1 is a block diagram illustrating all components of an example network environment including an exemplary printing device implemented to support a virtual media tray. FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example virtual tray manager. 6 is a flowchart describing an exemplary method for processing a document sent to a virtual media tray.

Claims (6)

In a system in which a computer (104) and a printing apparatus (100) are connected to a network, and a document is transmitted from the computer to the printing apparatus by specifying a printing tray, the printing apparatus includes a physical printing tray. In addition to (112), a virtual medium tray (202) provided on the memory (110) and defined in association with a predetermined process is provided, and a document is transferred from the computer (104) to the virtual medium tray. in response to receiving a saw including said printing apparatus to execute a process defined by said previously associated with the virtual media tray,
The predetermined process includes sending an electronic copy of the document to an email address defined in the virtual media tray, and sending an electronic copy of the document to a fax number defined in the virtual media tray. Sending an electronic copy of the document to an IP address defined in the virtual media tray, processing the document based on a specified document recipient profile, on one or more pages of the document A method that is at least one of adding a footer or header . Executing the above process
Determining whether a condition related to the process is satisfied;
Performing the process when the condition is satisfied;
The method of claim 1 comprising:   The method of claim 2, wherein the condition is based on at least one of a print area ratio of the document and an identifier associated with a user receiving the request.   The method of claim 1, further comprising printing the document on a print medium stored in a physical print tray associated with the virtual media tray. A computer connected to the network;
A printing device connected to the network, and the computer is configured to send a document by specifying a printing tray to the printing device to perform printing,
In addition to the physical print tray, the printing apparatus includes a virtual medium tray provided on the memory (110) and defined in association with a predetermined process.
In response to receiving a document from the computer (104) to the virtual media tray, the printing device is configured to perform the predetermined process associated with the virtual media tray;
The virtual media tray includes a physical print tray identifier, a process that causes the system to transfer a copy of the document to a network location, a process that causes the system to email the copy of the document to an email address, A combination of one or more elements selected from a group of elements including: causing the system to fax a copy of the document to a fax number; and a condition that can be associated with the one or more processes. Including the system   The processing includes storing a copy of the document, emailing a copy of the document, faxing a copy of the document, printing additional data with the document, and printing with the document. 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the system is selected from a group of processes that includes retrieving additional data.

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